Houston Ballet

Legal name: Houston Ballet Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 741394920
IRS 990 coverage: 2009–2024
Official website data refreshed: Sep 2026
Forms available: Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location: Houston, TX, US
Phone: (713) 227-2787
Rating: 84
Verdict: STRONG
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $41,957,306
Expenses: $41,953,862
Assets: $184,991,674
Liabilities: $7,885,116

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

127 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

MR DANIEL M MCCLURE (VICE PRESIDENT INVESTMENT)
MR JESSE H JONES II (VICE PRESIDENT DEVELOPMENT)
MRS AMY PINCU (VICE PRESIDENT FINANCE)
MRS ELIZABETH R ZDEBLICK (VICE PRESIDENT ACADEMY)
MRS KELLEY S LUBANKO (VICE PRESIDENT TRUSTEE DEVELOPMENT)
MS MICHELLE IVERSEN JEFFERY (GUILD PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

STANTON D WELCH (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $650,352 total reported compensation
JAMES NELSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $601,928 total reported compensation
JULIE-BARBEE KENT (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $432,515 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To inspire and engage audiences through the art of ballet, and to provide world-class dance education and community outreach.

What it reported doing in 2024

Dance performances by the company of professional dancers and orchestra in houston, tx, on tour nationally and internationally include production expenses such as salary of performers, cost of costumes, stage sets, theater rental, orchestra and other related expenses.

Operating model

Revenue model: Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model: Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 81
Transparency & Controls: 80
Accountability: 100
Sustainability: 54
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 93.9%; rating input score 94
Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 82
Fundraising efficiency: $3.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.41; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
Where the money goes: 93.9% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
Governance: 115 of 115 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $34.6M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $650K · 127 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.3M reported
Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.